Raptors coach Jay Triano may not have had his complete arsenal at his disposal yet this pre-season, but that hasn't stopped him from going ahead and making some key decisions with regard to his rotation.

"I'm pretty much set," Triano said after practice yesterday.

"You guys only get to see the pre-season games, but I get to see these guys every day in practice.

"And guys have played themselves in and out of positions.

"I feel pretty comfortable where we are rotation-wise."

While calling an eight-or nine-man rotation ideal, Triano isn't about to put a ceiling on the number of players he may call on regularly.

The odds are very good that he'll be respected. There is a pretty small percentage that doesn't achieve that (outside of where they coach - because practically no coach has respect in their own market).

Success? He has a lot of things going for him. There looks to be a lot of cohesion from top to bottom. That bodes well for any coach, and success will be something that is shared and then need to be maintained. He's got a shot at that, and probably the awareness of what lies before him. Luck always enters into that equation though, in one way or another. I'm hoping he's lucky as much as anything else.

agreed...but I have Amir/Rasho spliting time depending on matchups...good to hear Triano is willing to play more than 8/9 guys. Not sure why Triano would limit the rotation to 8/9 players (unless it's a motivational tool) now that the Raptors have depth. Rasho may not see a lot of floor time (but will be valuable in practise/lockeroom/injury) but against the Howards/Shaq's etc. he should see some PT.

amir is better than rasho in every respect, but offense. But let's not kid ourselves, these days rasho's offense is limited to mid range jumpers when open. Amir's defense is incomparable, and the only matchups where I can see rasho having an advantage is against the big guys (howard, shaq), when amir might get into foul trouble. Although Rasho couldn't defend howard 2 years ago, he won't be any better now.